Signs That You Need to Slow Down + Relax

These days, being busy is worn as a badge of honor for some reason. We’re all told how self-care, mindfulness, and moments of rest are important, but sometimes they don’t happen as much as they should. We preach about taking care of our bodies and minds, but then we work ourselves to the point of burn out.

Although staying busy is a good thing, it’s easy to go too far and end up feeling burned out or overwhelmed. Having a full schedule and a fulfilling life doesn’t have to come at the cost of your peace of mind.

When you’re pushed beyond your limits, it can lead to stress, depression, or even a breakdown or physical health problems. Doesn’t sound so fun, does it? Trust me, I’ve been there; I’m sure most of us have.

It’s so easy to go from “I’m so busy” to “OMG I’m losing it what am I going to do?” without even really noticing. So it’s good to know when your body is asking you to slow down for a minute before you’re pushed too far.

Here are some signs that you need to slow down in life and take a breather!

1- You’re always running late.

“But how is slowing down going to help me not be late?”

Because if you could just slow down and take a minute or two every night to make a plan or a schedule for the next day, you would be able to manage your time better. When you’re always running late, it’s because you need to slow down and figure things out.

All you need to do is invest in a good, inexpensive planner (if you don’t have one already) and every night before bed, make a schedule for the next day. Write down everything you need to get done and schedule a time frame for each item. This way, you’ll clear your brain of clutter and you’ll be more productive. You’ll already know everything you need to do and how much time you have for everything.

2- You’re having trouble sleeping.

If you’re having difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep, then you might just be pushing yourself too hard. If you’re waking up feeling unrefreshed, sore, or overly tired, then you’re probably too stressed out.

If you’re having any sort of sleep problems, then your body is telling you something. It might be that you’re burned out and you need to figure out a way to lessen your stress, remove some activities from your schedule, and show yourself some self-care.

3- You’re having attitude problems.

If you find yourself in a chronic bad mood or you’re snapping at people more than usual, you’ve got a problem. You’re too stressed, too tired, and/or too overwhelmed. This sort of ties into the one above – you need to remove some commitments from your schedule and get some more sleep.

4- You’re misplacing and/or forgetting things.

Once, I lost my phone and found it a few hours later in my refrigerator. It (luckily) still worked, but you can see that my mind was clearly somewhere else when I set it down in there. Things like this happen when you’ve got too much on your mind and can’t think straight.

Disorganization, “foggy” thinking, trouble concentrating, forgetting or misplacing things – all signs that you’ve got too much on your plate and on your mind. Once again, you need to drop some commitments and get your mind right.

5- You’re always sick.

This is usually the biggest sign that I need to slow down, personally. I start catching colds left and right and end up sick all the time – like once a month. Just this February, I was sick just about the whole month. But for you, this doesn’t necessarily need to be a cold that you’re getting. Maybe you’ve always got a headache, you’re always feeling nauseous, you’re having muscle aches, or you just feel “off.”

I pretty much have all of these signs, especially the “running late” and “trouble sleeping.” My mind is always racing and I have such a hard time turning it off. I need to slow down and meditate/practice mindfulness more often =) Thanks for the reminders!!

OMG! I have all these symptoms and I had to laugh when you said you found your phone in the refrigerator! LOL! I used to walk around at work with the cordless phone under my arm asking members “hey, have you seen the phone?!” — it was a fitness center and mostly senior citizens, but they always got a good laugh out of it. Time management is a major issue for me even with a schedule and I stay sick with everything coming and going. Thanks for the reminder to take care of myself first!

Haha, I’m constantly losing my phone but that was probably the weirdest place I found it. 🙂 I also walk around the house asking my husband if he’s seen my keys when I’m holding them! It’s all definitely a struggle because I feel like women in general work so hard and try to help everyone, all the time. But sometimes we forget that we need to make time for ourselves too. 🙂

“every night before bed, make a schedule for the next day’ . I am a total late person because i try to cram so much in my day. I look at the appointments I am late for and say “but you don’t know how much I already got done!”

I love losing you phone in the fridge. I lose mine most when I am talking on it. At present I am trying really hard to verblize when i am overwhelmed rather than just pushing through, This simple act of speaking out loud (whether anyone is there or not) is helpful reminder, to stop and breath!

I lose my phone all the time, haha. And I know how you feel about being late, sometimes life just gets in the way. That’s a great idea to verbalize when you’re feeling overwhelmed though. It’s so easy to forget that sometimes we just need to take a breather. 🙂

Yup, I think most of us lady bosses can totally relate to these signs. I’m terrible at getting an attitude when I get overwhelmed! Definitely helps to realign, slow down and for me a short meditation helps. Beautiful site and great article. Would love to connect if you have any group boards! 🙂